Tug of war involving Aishwarya
Santoshi subsequently started Keshu Ramsay's Family early in 2005, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar and Aryaman and this time fortunately the project is going ahead steadily. Of all his story-ideas prior to Family, Prithiviraj Sanjukta was the one that still fascinated him and he had plans to make a film on the subject with Ajay Devgan and Aishwarya Rai in title roles.
But in between all this, he zeroed in on a new theme and launched another film Saamna, starring Ajay Devgan, Aishwarya Rai, Akshay Kumar and Nana Patekar. So after Family, it's Saamna which means Prithiviraj Sanjukta will still have to wait.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Amidst all this, another talented filmmaker Chandraprakash Dwivedi, who earlier directed the masterpiece period drama Pinjar, was enthralled by the life history of the Rajput king Prithviraj Chauhan and his lady love Sanjukta. The director, whose meticulous detailing shown in Pinjar, did his share of research on the subject and wanted to cast Sunny Deol in the role of Prithiviraj. However his choice for Sanjukta was the same as Santoshi's - Aishwarya.
Dwivedi had also offered Pinjar to Aishwarya earlier but she couldn't do the film. However this time Dwivedi desperately wanted Ash to be a part of his period drama. But Aishwarya was ethically committed to Santoshi on the same subject though the film still had some time to start-off.
So finally the two filmmakers reportedly seem to have reached on a settlement. The deal is that only one among Santoshi and Dwivedi will make a film on Prithiviraj-Sanjukta. And Aishwarya will work with the one who starts the movie first. In most probabilities Dwivedi may prove out to be the winner since Santoshi is currently busy with Family and will soon start Saamna thereafter. Also the agreement between the directors doesn't end there. The buzz is that the filmmakers are ready to share their research knowledge with each other.
Whichever of the two men wins, it's a win-win situation for the lady. So, here's to Aishwarya!
Complied by cultural correspondent